On 20 March Nationalmuseum, together with most central museums, temporarily closed down activities in the museum building due to the situation with the new coronavirus. This closure is now valid until further notice, and the museum is working on different scenarios for when it might be possible to reopen. This means that some adjustments have had to be made in the upcoming exhibition programme.
Due to the situation with the new coronavirus, Nationalmuseum, Moderna Museet in Stockholm and Malmö and ArkDes has decided to temporarily close. Moderna Museet and ArkDes, who share facilities in Stockholm, will be closed starting March 19 and Nationalmuseum will close starting March 20. Preliminarily, all three museums will remain closed until April 14.
On March 26, an exhibition will open featuring the Nobel gowns that Pär Engsheden created for Sara Danius while she was Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy. They were developed in close collaboration, and each of them has its own story. The accessories worn with the gowns and photographs are also on display.
Nationalmuseum has acquired a central work in early Swedish photography, Johan Wilhelm Bergström's portrait of his wife Henriette Charlotta Catharina. The daguerreotype was probably created sometime in the mid-1840s, an era when Bergström was one of the very few portrait photographers working in Stockholm.
Nationalmuseum has made a sensational new acquisition of a painting by the Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. The motif is Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a theme which recurs several times in Artemisia’s oeuvre. The painting will be on display in the galleries of the museum from February 25th.
Nationalmuseum has acquired two glass sculptures by Rasmus Nossbring. They are part of a group of five, comprising Nossbring’s degree project at Konstfack in 2017. The glass sculptures are portraits of his former colleagues at Reijmyre Glassworks, capturing the everyday private moments in which the person is the most vulnerable.
On 20 February, an exhibition of iconic works and how they have influenced contemporary artists opens at Nationalmuseum in Sweden. One of the exhibition’s key questions is why some works of art have become more famous than others? Artists in the exhibition include Marina Abramović, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Nancy Fouts, Mark Karasick, Sara Masüger, Kiki Smith, Yinka Shonibare and Henrik Jonsson.
Nationalmuseum has acquired the painting Adam in Paradise by the Danish artist Kristian Zahrtmann. It is one of a group of erotic depictions of men which were perceived at the time as being too provocative and ended up in private collections. Thanks to the acquisition, the painting will be one of only a few to be given a permanent place in public.
Nationalmuseum has recently acquired a number of rare objects made of silver plated brass, known as argent haché, from the late 18th century. Few of these objects have survived to the present day, and the museum’s collections had thus previously lacked examples of this important part of Swedish design history.
As part of their assignment to preserve and collect form and design, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm has now started a collection of Swedish fashion items with high artistic originality, created from the year 2000 and on. The collection started with the donation of a dress by Martin Bergström and five dresses designed by Pär Engsheden for Sara Danius.
Next year, Nationalmuseum will continue its extensive range of art and design exhibitions in the museum building on Blasieholmen in Stockholm.
Nationalmuseum has acquired two physiognomic self-portraits painted by the French artist, Joseph Ducreux, one of the foremost artists at the court of Louis XVI. Ducreux’s portraiture exhibits strong influences of naturalism and is characterized by the artist’s ability to capture a specific facial expression or emotional state.
